


Where We're Supposed to Be

by donnyftchesh



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Domestic Fluff, Established Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Happy Ending, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Leeds - Freeform, M/M, Married Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, One Shot, Parents Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Pregnancy, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot, So Married, Twins, Very very fluffy, but oh well, it needed to happen, so happy, spouses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-03-11
Packaged: 2018-03-17 07:39:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3520958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnyftchesh/pseuds/donnyftchesh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>louis and harry are happy.<br/>it just took them a long while to get there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where We're Supposed to Be

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy xx

"Darling, Haz, baby, stop. Stop fixing and just breathe." Harry finally looks up from where he's been dusting the same spot for the past minute. The entire house was immaculate but the curly boy just couldn't sit still.

"I just I want everything to be perfect, ya know? I want them to like me, us, Lou. What if they.. what if they don't?"

Louis looks at his boy with a wistful smile. It was hard to talk to Harry when he got like this, set in whatever mindset he'd buried himself in. Louis understood why Harry was so nervous, today was sort of a make or break day, which was why Louis needed Harry at the top of his game, anxiety be damned. 

"They're gonna love you, baby, love _us_. What's not to love anyway? We're successful, charming as all hell, and hey, you're not too bad on the eyes, either." 

Harry's lips lift the tiniest bit at Louis' last comment but he's still guarded. "What does my face have to do with anything?" 

Louis walks to him, past all their cozy furniture, and grabs Harry's hands. The younger lads head is still down turned, refusing to meet Louis' eyes. Louis' used to it, though, and plows ahead.

"Your face? Darling, that face is everything. That face is what gave me the confidence to stay in that bloody band, that face is what pulled me through every night of doubt, wondering when it would all be over, and that dimpled, beautiful, one-of-a-kind face is the reason I put a ring on your finger. Well, one reason, anyway."

At that Louis lifts Harry's hand and places the daintiest of kisses on the aforementioned ring. It was gorgeous, who wouldn't want to kiss it? A thick gold band with a large, antique diamond in the middle, two small sapphires on either side of the bigger stone. Louis had it custom made to reflect his eyes because he knew how Harry loved them. When Louis proposed, for the fourth--or was it the fifth?--time, and presented Harry with the jeweled band, Harry cried. Genuinely overflowed with tears and wrapped his arms around Louis' neck, a chorus of, "Yes yes yes a million times yes oh my god Louis yes," spilling out of him.

It wasn't the first time he'd proposed, that happened during a very drunken night at the Wellington and neither of them considered the proposal legitimate, but Louis wanted this time to be the last. He'd done his fair share of waiting, walked through hell and back, and had his name dragged through the mud all the while. For one boy. For one curly-haired frog of a boy who, for whatever reason, took a chance on Louis and started calling him his own.

It's been 8 years since the XFactor, where Louis and Harry met, just babies the two of them, really, and Louis still can't wrap his head around Harry's love for him. Louis specifically remembers the time Harry sang, "I'm in love with Lou," during Little Things while they were on the Take Me Home tour. Louis' jaw dropped then and it still catches him off guard when Harry admits it out loud or says it off-handedly in public. Louis knows Harry loves him, he just isn't sure why.

"Well, I'm glad my face was enough reason to marry me, really you're so deep, Tomlinson." Harry rolled his eyes but finally looked up at Louis, and that felt like a small win.

"You know you can't call just me, Tomlinson, anymore?", Louis nuzzled into Harry's neck, chuckling. "That nickname applies to you, too, Mr. Harry Styles- _Tomlinson_ ."

Harry visibly shudders, turning his head down again and squeezing Louis' hands. 

Louis voice is just above a whisper. "Y'alright, baby?"

Harry's head snaps up, and goddamn if there aren't tears in his eyes. "I'm great, Lou, I'm-I'm so happy. It's just, like, hard to wrap my head around that, like, you love me so much, you know? Like, that, after everything, you still chose me. And not, ya know, her." 

There's only a mild amount of jealousy and archaic hurt in Harry's tone but Louis doesn't like it there, wants to snatch it right out of his mouth and say good riddance. 

Louis knows it still hurts Harry, his relationship with Eleanor; the "Hard Years" Harry so appropriately titled them. Louis understands but Harry understands, too. It took him a while to grasp the concept but all Louis ever wanted to do was protect his love. Harry was just 16 when they met, 17 when the "L" word first fell off his lips. 18 when he learned the difference being loved and being in love. They both learned that one the hard way.

Everyday was PR and denials, holding hands with women he didn't really know and kissing popstars in public. And that was hard. Hard for Louis but hard for Harry especially. His mother had always taught him to respect women, but his repectful image was torn away in lieu of media training when management decided he and Louis were too chummy. They understood it, honestly, from a business angle. It's hard to market a boyband that supposedly sings about girls, their fans, if two of them are singing the line, "I'll be your life, your voice, your reason to be," to one another, fond splattered over their features. A gay scandal could very well end the band which meant the end of their best mates' careers. And Louis and Harry couldn't do that. So thrust into the closet, they were, almost willingly to a degree.

At first, simply pulling back their displays of affection was enough. But then it wasn't anymore. And things got hard. The press asked too many questions they couldn't answer and the fans asked even more. Louis can't remember how many times he awoke to Harry quietly crying in the bathroom hoping the door would muffle the sobs, sitting on his phone scrolling through his feed or different articles and falling apart. 

_'Boybanders Love A Scam? Insider Tells All!'_

_'@blowjobs4larry: i trust louis and harry but like what even is the truth anymore who are they :/'_

_'@1DsBiggestFan69: #bravery ? more like #cowardly -.-'_

Louis would have to physically take Harry's phone away and gather him into his arms, despite how gangly the boy became. Harry would sob and cry into Louis' shoulder for hours before Louis could properly calm him down and get him into bed. It was harsh and unforgettable seeing Harry that way, all over something he couldn't change, and Louis couldn't take it. On one of those long nights, Louis made a decision. The idea of it had been in his head for days and seeing his boy cry until there was nothing left made up his mind. He had to protect him some how and leaving seemed to be as good an idea as any.

Louis was rather charming and despite the rumors surrounding his name, Eleanor came to him quickly, agreeing to his terms eagerly. She wanted to help. When Louis had first posed the prospect of a fake long-term relationship to his management team, they scoffed. But when he came back again, serious this time, it was set in motion. It'd be harder to shout "Larry Stylinson" if one of them was seemed to be happy dating someone else, and a girl, at that.

Louis couldn't just let Harry go and step into the world of deceit and, well, fame without one last irrefutable notion of love, though. 

Their time spent at the Leeds Festival in 2011 was dream-like. No paps and no fake girlfriends, just Louis, Harry, and a tent. They danced and sang along to every act and bought bracelets and tshirts. It was a sort of goodbye on Louis' part. He had no intention of ever loving anyone else except Harry but things were about to change and they deserved one last hoorah. It was there that Louis proposed for the first time, officially. It was really more of a promise to one day properly propose and marry Harry and be damn proud of it. Lost for a ring, Louis tied one of the bracelets they'd picked up around Harry's wrist and called it good enough.

And it was good enough, until July the following year when it broke. Harry opted to get a tattoo in its place and Louis cried when he showed him but cleverly adopted quotation marks on his own wrist to correspond with Harry's simple , "I CAN'T CHANGE."

Eleanor and Louis made public appearances and 'dated' until 2015. Louis lost count of how many times he'd have to reassure a shaking Harry that it wasn't real, that it was all for him, twisted as that may seem. But in 2015 the light at the end of the tunnel was shining bright and Louis had had enough. The contract he'd signed with Modest, his management team, was due to end, and Louis would be able to put it all behind him. He'd finally be able to love Harry the way he deserved.

Saying goodbye to Eleanor was actually quite difficult for him because she'd sacrificed so much in those four years, too. There was no "normal life" for Eleanor Calder. If she was in London but needed to be papped with Louis in Australia, then she had better get her ass on a plane. Through everything, Louis never once took her situation for granted and thanked her immensely everyday.

So in July of 2015, they were out. Out and proud and happy as could be. But it didn't last.

_'One Direction Stars Open Up After Lying to Fans for Years'_

_'Boybander Louis Tomlinson: Bashes the Gay Community, Ends Up Being In It'_

_'"Not On Purpose," Hm, Are You Sure, Harry Styles?'_

It's hard and they fight a lot and there's always too many cameras and not enough support. Half of their fans turned their backs when Louis and Harry were papped kissing on stage during their On the Road Again Tour, trying to making their coming out more legitimate. The fans who left said they felt lied to and betrayed. And those were the nice comments. Others called the boys fags and said they should've stayed closeted, insisting that they'd fucked over Niall, Zayn, and Liam.

Louis and Harry saw it all, or heard snippets at the parties they attended as an outright couple. In bleak contrast to fan assumptions, the other boys were actually Louis and Harry's lifeline during those first few months. Liam had been trying to force-out them for years and Niall made comments alluding to their relationship as often as he could in interviews. Zayn was more quiet with his support but it made him happy beyond belief to see his best mates out. When the other boys would tease Louis and Harry for kissing or cuddling on the tour bus, Zayn would instead envelope them in a massive hug and whisper, "Cutest damn couple I've ever seen."

By late 2016, the scandal surrounding them had died down and things were calmer. Every now and then they'd still get a question that was really an insult or find a pap hiding in their bushes but they learned to handle it, posing proudly for the cameras, unashamed. Their sixth album was about to be released and six of the fourteen tracks were co-written exclusively by Louis and Harry, one of which was titled, "Next to You." They had made it, they were properly out. 

Louis snaps back to the present when he realizes he hasn't yet replied to Harry's last statement, the one about why he loved him, why he chose him. He doesn't really know how to answer, there are so many reasons, so many ups and downs and yes' and no's that landed Louis where he was right now, holding hands with a very grown and loved-up Harry Styles, his one and only.

"I love you because, because...", Louis stops, trying to correctly formulate his response because Harry  _needs_ this right now.

"I love you because I'm loud. I love you because my entire life has been four loud sisters in a small, never quiet house and a mum who didn't know how to be a mum so she yelled too often and men who came and called themselves my dad for a while but they were loud, too, and took too much from us when they finally left so then I was loud in school and at the XFactor to make up for everything that I wasn't, everything that I didn't know how to be but then you came. You came and looked at me with those gorgeous green eyes, put your hands on my shoulders after my audition, and said, 'It was great, mate,' and I swear to god the entire world shut up."

Louis' eyes are stinging and his hands are shaky holding Harry's but he keeps going.

"I love you because you are quiet. You're the only quiet I've ever known and I didn't know how much _quiet_ I needed until I met you. You still this racing heart while simultaneously making it beat out of my chest with a turn of your head. I love you because I'm 26 and being yours is the only thing I know how to do with any degree of certainty. And--and I chose you because in a million different scenarios, in a trillion different stories, I know you'd still choose me, too."

Louis can hardly breathe and Harry's stopped completely. Louis kneels down so he can see Harry's face, which he's keeping shrouded. "Look at me, love."

"You're not going t'propose me again, are you?" Harry just barely grunts out the joke, and there are tears welling in his eyes but he's smiling that special smile, the coy one reserved for Louis and Louis only. It floods Louis' cheeks with warmth.

"Well, I would really but I'm practically in the poor house after the last time. That little ring cost quite the pretty penny, you know." He's chuckling, trying to lighten the heavy mood but Louis' crying, too.

Such saps; they were made for each other. 

Harry sniffs a bit before giving Louis a level look. "You know I love you, too. I'm so in love with you, Louis Tomlinson, it's stupid." And now he's smiling outright, tears gone.

"You are a bit mad, love, for falling for me. Didn't I tell you I'm a rather dreary person to be around forever and ever. But, alas, now you're stuck with me. Whatever shall we do?"

And then there's a knock knock at the door. 

Harry tenses up and Louis' eyes widened because  _shit_ they'd completely forgotten, lost to everything but each other. Louis immediately begins rubbing the tension out of Harry shoulders, slowly pushing him towards the door, giving him kisses and words of affirmation in the process.

"They'll love us." _Kiss._

"They'll love you." _Kiss._

"You--we--can do this." _Kiss kiss._

Harry rolls his shoulders, face set and ready, and opens the door.

"Hi, there! I'm the rep the agency sent! My you have a lovely home--can I come in, gosh, this place is beautiful!"

Harry ushers the woman in, smiling that Prince Charming smile, while Louis gets the tea platter. When they're finally sat, the woman, who has a kind smile and sweet eyes says, "Oh, but, where are my manners? I'm so taken aback by you two that I haven't introduced myself! I'm Emma Willis, but you can call me Em."

Louis extends his arm immediately to shake hers in return. "I'm Louis and this is my spouse, Harry. We're so happy you've come and that we're even being considered!"

Harry takes her hand a moment for a polite shake, then drops it and instead opts to rise and give her a genuine hug instead, whispering a small, "Thank you," in her ear. 

Louis pours the tea and it begins. The three talk for hours, Louis and Harry answering every question that's thrown at them and throwing in a few themselves. They make Emma laugh with their witty comedic timing and make her almost cry when they tell their love story, the abridged version, anyway. 

Finally, thankfully, it's over and the trio stands. Emma walks to their fireplace a moment, observing the pictures lined on the mantle there. Harry and Louis at Leeds; the two posing with Simon; Louis and Harry squished in Niall and Zayn's arms while Liam stretches to take the photo, just barely fitting in the corner of the shot; and at the end, the most recent addition--Louis and Harry on their wedding day. They're turned away from the camera, looking out over the ocean--Harry _insisted_ the wedding be held in LA, the brat--heads resting against one another, their clasped hands between their legs.

Utterly and totally free. 

When Emma turns back, there's the smallest smile on her face. She simply nods and walks to where Louis and Harry are by the door. "Well, you should be expecting a call from the agency within a couple of days with the results, but if I were you, I wouldn't be too worried. You too are a shoo-in for parents. You're one of the most eligible couples for adoption that I've had the good fortune of meeting. And this house is beautiful but it needs a baby to rough it up and give you two something to do."

Harry lurches forward and wraps the woman in a tight embrace. This time she holds him back and gives his shoulders an encouraging squeeze. Emma notices Louis standing away, hands behind his back, and urges him to come forward and join the emotional dog pile.

They disentangle themselves and kiss Emma on the cheek, sending their thank you's with her as she departs, carrying their future in a little folder clutched at her side.

 

*** Emma Willis was wrong. And Harry can't take it. She had said they'd call in a couple days but it's been _four_ and he's _dying_. He's quite sure of it.

On the fifth day, there's a call.

On the sixth, Louis and Harry walk up the steps of the adoption center. That's the day they meet her, or at least the day they see pictures and review the file of Penelope Ruth, a 2-month old whose parents were young and couldn't handle the responsibility of a child. By that evening, they've fallen in love with her and all her little things. Penelope, Penny as Louis keeps calling her, is the one. She's most definitely a Styles-Tomlinson.

Adoption is a lengthy process, though, so they don't get to meet her for another six weeks. But when they do, the crying does not stop. She's perfect in every sense of the word. Harry counts four times to make sure she's got all ten fingers and toes, and he kisses them all. Louis is transfixed by her eyes, a surprising shade of turquoise, and her light brown curls. It feels like this weight has been lifted, like the last piece of their very complicated puzzle has just slid into place. 

On September 28th, they bring Penelope Ruth home, setting all her toys and necessities in the nursery that's been finished but empty for years.

The rest of the boys all come to meet their new niece the next day; Zayn and Perrie, who are finally married; Liam toting a very pregnant Sophia; and Niall with a very tired Eleanor, who spends much of her time bouncing her blonde twin boys until Niall comes to rescue her, splitting the load. It's a very happy picture, everyone cooing over the newest addition to the One Direction family, and it's a picture Louis and Harry have been waiting for for years.

When the night is winding down, Louis notes Harry's absence and goes to look for him. He finds him in the nursery--sorry, Penelope's room--running his hands over her diapers and blankets and baby clothers. 

"Hidin' out?", Louis asks, standing in the doorway.

"Something like that," and there's a far away look in Harry's eye that makes Louis go to him, crossing the distance between them quickly.

"S'ere something wrong, Haz?" His boy won't look at him.

"No no, Louis, I just--what if we're not good at it? What if I'm not cut out to be a father?" 

Louis' heart swells.

"Darling. There's no such thing as being 'good at it.' But there is such a thing as trying and I know you, Curly. You're nothing if not persistent."

Harry looks at him a moment then just kisses him, slow and deep, and Louis knows his words are enough.

This life they built out of slammed closet doors and microphones in their face, long nights full of crying and short days where one or the other was absent doing PR, moments of questioning if it was worth and even more knowing it was. This life is enough. 

They walk back out, hands clapsed, a single unit, and look at the scene before them. At their friends and all the love between them, and at their baby girl and the way she already has them wrapped around her finger. Harry gives his hand one last squeeze before walking away and tackling his best mates in a hug that speaks volumes.

Louis watches, fondly, before joining in, thinking,

_If you're given a chance, might as well._

**Author's Note:**

> so this one shot future verse thing has been in my head for so very long and i just really needed to get it out. i'm quite chuffed about it, almost cried a few times.
> 
> thank you to emma and savannah for letting me use your names (without your permission because i'm trash oops)
> 
> thank you to bea for being bea because that is enough for me
> 
> title is a line from the song quiet by lights bc of louis' long love admission in the middle, give it a listen.
> 
> thank you to you all for reading if you did aand leaving kudos if you did that too x
> 
> you can find me on twitter @lwtftbeanies if you have any questions thank you babies :**


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